Category: Sermon

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As you all know we are doing an expository preaching through the epistles of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. Last Sunday Jinson preached from the text 2 Timothy 2:15-21 titled “The Job description of a Gospel worker”

Before we get into our next passage today I wanted to re-emphasize on certain points we looked at last Sunday which I believe has a strong connection with what I’m going to share today.

As Jinson rightly said … Even though this letter may seem to have written to Timothy – a servant of Christ, but the principles apply to every believer. Here are couple of more reasons why that is true.

1. In Luke 4:8 Jesus reminds us an old commandment which says “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only” – Remember this commandment is not just for the church leaders but for every Christian – Which implies that we all are called to serve him in some measure or the other. When a person is in a real relationship with God, he/she will serve God.

2. The second reason is found in Romans 8:29 which implies that we are all images bearers of Christ and God’s intention for us is to make all of us like his son Jesus “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers”. Therefore, if Jesus’s entire life was centered on serving God – by teaching, healing, and proclaiming the Kingdom of God then I believe that is exactly what God intends for us as well.

3. These letters are instructions that are foundational to our Christian faith, and therefore ignoring them saying these are only for church leaders and not for us will be inaccurate.

The reason I wanted to re-emphasize on this point is because if we get this wrong then none of what Paul says here will seem like a practical application for our life and we will tend to ignore them as if its only for pastors and leaders.

The truth is even though the letter is addressed to church leaders, every single verse is life giving and applicable to every person who believes in Christ and desires to grow in their faith and service to God.

And therefore we are all Gospel workers, called to diligently serve Christ by rightly handling the word of truth with a genuine heart, distancing ourselves from unproductive teachings, serving one another in whichever measure God leads you.

Now the hard hitting reality of life is this.

As easy as it sounds it is often the biggest challenge we face daily – To love and live for Christ, serve him and to serve his people – Isn’t that Right?

I believe our next passage i.e 2 Timothy 2:22-26 will help us address some of these challenges and help focus on our true purpose in Life and that is to love and live for Jesus.

Let’s open our bible to 2 Timothy 2:22-26 and read.

The first thing that strikes out for me when I read these instructions is that Paul is not writing to someone who is new in faith. He is writing this to Timothy about whom Paul himself mentions in chapter 1 verse 5 as a man of sincere faith – A man who loves Jesus – A man who was on a missionary journey with Paul and was sent out to look out for the church in Ephesus. – By this we know that Timothy was a strong and mature believer.

Which implies to me that as a believer we should never underestimate the seductive power of sin even if think we are sincere, bible believing, spirit led Christian. If Timothy needed to hear theses instructions and guard his heart against them then even we need to consider them as serious instructions for our lives.

The first instruction Paul gives Timothy and to us today as we seek to serve Jesus and live a God glorifying life is to

1. Flee from youthful passions

Timothy was a young pastor (the bible doesn’t tell us his age but looking at his journey we can say he wasn’t too old either), and as a young leader he was prone to fall into youthful passions that could distract him for serving Jesus. Nowhere in the bible does it mention that Timothy was married; which means he had dedicated his whole life to serve in the Kingdom of God.

Historians say Timothy remained in Ephesus until AD 97. During a pagan celebration of a feast called “Catagogian,” Timothy severely reproved the people in the procession for their ridiculous idolatry. Because of which he was beaten with clubs “in so dreadful a manner that he expired of the bruises two days later.”

For Timothy to serve Christ faithfully in that manner he had to keep a watch over his life by fleeing from any youthful passions. Isn’t that true from us even today and if I may put it this way saying “If anyone one of us present here today wants to serve Jesus have to watch over their lives by feeling from all and any kind of youthful passions that distract us from serving Christ faithfully”

In today’s generation sexual passions leading to sexual sins have destroyed many lives, especially with the easy accessibility of sexual content through internet. Even small kids can find and watch anything they want. As parents one of our hardest struggle is to protect our children from getting exposed to unhealthy sexual content and no matter how hard we try these things find their way to creep into their lives from somewhere or else. Sometimes through simple advertisement imagery on the roadside draws their attention.

The largest increase in moral acceptability from 2001 to 2015 was for homosexual relations, which increased 23 percentage points, from 40 to 63 percent. That was followed by having a baby outside of marriage (45 to 61 percent), heterosexual sex outside of marriage (53 to 68 percent), divorce (59 to 71 percent) and polygamy (7 to 16 percent). I believe if we have to take a count in the last two years the numbers must have grown even more.

The recent study examined pornography’s effect on pastors, churches, the general population, and young people says

“Most pastors (57%) and youth pastors (64%) admit they have struggled with porn, either currently or in the past,” “Overall, 21 percent of youth pastors and 14 percent of pastors admit they currently struggle with using porn.”

47 percent of Christian men and 12 percent of Christian women in general seek out porn at least once or twice a month.

Recent statistics suggest that women are being drawn into life-controlling sexual addiction lifestyles in greater and greater numbers.

Brothers and Sisters, as your pastor and as your elder brother & friend in Christ I want to urge and encourage you just as Paul encourages Timothy to flee from youthful passions. Going after youthful passions will never give you the pleasure and joy your soul is seeking for. If that was true that then we would never feel guilty and shameful about ourselves once we’ve indulged in such activities.

Only Jesus can satisfy the deepest longings and fill our hearts with true pleasures of life.

I remember a picture my youth pastor shared with us when we were young about fleeing from sexual sins. He asked us to consider ‘fleeing’ as running from a mad dog on a street chasing to bite you.

Joseph in the old testament when tempted by Potipher’s wife who caught hold of his garment ran like a mad guy leaving his garment behind.

Youthful passions steal our love and devotion to Christ and make us ineffective for the Kingdom work. Sexual pleasures are only meant to be enjoyed within the boundaries of marriage, and any sexual endeavours outside marriage can destroy our married lives, it can destroy the lives of our children.

It is Devil’s weapon meant to steal, kill and destroy us.

Jesus on the other hand said in John 10:10 “I have come to give life and life in abundance”

What do you chose this morning? Do you want to choose your momentary pleasure that causes lifetime pain? Or do you want to choose a lifetime devotion that promises life in abundance?

I hope and pray that you chose what is right in God.

How do we then deal with youthful passions that confront us every day?

The answer is found in the remaining versus – Just fleeing away from youthful passions is not enough but we need to now flee towards something better, something sustainable … something that will now satisfy our deepest longings.

Verse 22 Pauls says “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on to the Lord from a pure heart”.

Let look at each of these elements one by one.

Number 1 … Pursuing RIGHTEOUSNESS

The meaning of the word righteousness is “justice, justness, or divine holiness”. In the broadest sense, righteousness can be defined as “the condition of being acceptable to God as made possible by God”. God’s standard is what defines true righteousness; His power is what enables it. Unless God is its author, we will never possess righteousness. No amount of man-made effort will result in righteousness. To be righteous is to be right with God.

To pursue righteousness means we must recognize that we cannot please God in our sinful state (Romans 8:8). We turn from trying to justify ourselves by our good deeds and instead seek the mercy of God. We desire that He transform our minds (Romans 12:2) and conform us “to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29).

We pursue righteousness when we pursue the character of Christ and desire holiness more than fleshly indulgence. Remember the cross chart we saw in the Gospel centred lessons… As we grow and march ahead in our Christian faith there are two things that happen. Number one we will grow in awareness of God’s holiness (when we start reading the bible, when we encounter his presence) and number two we will grow in awareness of our sinfulness (when we see our failures in keeping up with Gods standards). The only way the gap between our awareness of God’s holiness and the awareness of our sinfulness can we bridged is when we daily treasure & appreciate The CROSS – The Life, Death, & Resurrection of Jesus in our lives. “He must increase & I must decrese”

What does it mean practically? It means every day when we get up from our bed instead of worrying about life, instead of feeling guilty of our sins we simply look to God in pray and thank him for his wonderful gift of salvation which makes us righteous before him … one that he gave us through the sacrificial death of his son Jesus Christ.

Number 2 … Pursuing Faith

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Perhaps no other component of the Christian life is more important than faith. We cannot purchase it, sell it or give it to our friends. So what is faith and what role does faith play in the Christian life?

The dictionary defines faith as “belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof.” It also defines faith as “belief in and devotion to God.” The Bible has much more to say about faith and how important it is. In fact, it is so important that, without faith, we have no place with God, and it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). According to the Bible, faith is belief in the one, true God without actually seeing Him.

Pursuing faith simply means to believe in this one true God … to arrive at a place where we are no more wavering in our beliefs and completely trusting in his ability to save us, to protect us, to provide for us.

How is it connected to fleeing from youthful pleasure? Often times we get carried away to give in to sin (even sexual sins) because of our wavering faith. When things don’t happen the way we expect it to happen? When our day at work is so hard that we fail to see God in control? When we fall sick and feel weak in our bodies? When we fail to get the job we desire? When there is delay in finding our life partner? When we compare ourselves with others and wonder why isn’t my life as colorful as his?

If you have to discuss your frustrations with your earthly friends their suggestion will be to go have a drink and get drunk and forget all your pain, which I believe leads to many more complications.

Pursing faith means to stand strong even in your darkest moments and trust that God knows best and he is working in your life. You can’t see it but its there.

I remember my times of frustration at work especially when I used to travel all the way to Vashi and then attend business management lectures in the evenings. All of this while I was married and had our first son. It was tough and I had to believe that God was at work and is working out something beautiful for me. All I need was to have faith in him.

Number 3 … Pursuing Love

Now that we know that we stand righteous before God because of his son Jesus Christ.

In John 15:16 Jesus said “You did not choose me, but I chose you”.

In Ephesians 1:4 Paul reminds – “he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”

These verse shows how much God himself is pursuing a relationship with us. He desires to be with us. Think about that. Our response to that reality tells a lot about our relationship with God.

Do you look to Jesus as the Lover of your soul .. And just as we fall in love or get infatuated with the opposite sex where we go any length to spend time with them, talk to them, stay faithful to them. Do we think of and love our True lover Jesus in that manner.

I remember when I fell in love with Jane and started talking to her on the phone. I would go to any length to speak to her and hear her voice. Instead of taking a bus or a rickshaw to travel to college or work I would walk so I can save money to speak to her from the public phone booth. I’ve spend hours trying to write a poem on her birthday and even spend days to express my love through paintings and sketches. Nothing else seemed important in life except for the fact that I needed to get a good job to be able to get married to her.

If we can go to such lengths to express our feelings and pursue our earthly companions – Imagine how much more do we need to pursue the eternal lover of our soul. The one who continues to love us even though we keep betraying him through our words and actions every single day.

King David looked at God in that manner when he wrote in Psalms 139:17

How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!

No wonder God calls David a man of his own heart.

Pursuing Love is to get into a deeper relationship with Jesus like never before. When compared to our temporary lust for sexuality can we see true love in the eyes of our beloved.

Number 4 … Pursuing Peace

Peace is something everyone wants, yet few seem to find. What is peace? It can be defined as “tranquility, harmony, or security.”

In the Old Testament, the primary Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom, and it refers to relationships between people (Genesis 34:21), nations (1 Kings 5:12), and God with men (Psalm 85:8). Peace is a desired status in each of these arenas, and shalom is often tied to a covenant or a promise kept.

Peace is directly related to the actions and attitudes of individuals; but it is ultimately a gift from God (Isaiah 45:7; Leviticus 26:6; John 14:27). The presence of peace indicates God’s blessing on man’s obedience (Isaiah 32:17; Malachi 2:5) and faith (Isaiah 26:3). There is no peace for the wicked (Isaiah 48:22).

Everyone desires to have peace in their life. (Shanti chahiye)

Thousands of men even go to lengths of disconnecting themselves and live isolated lives on the mountains in search of peace.

But true peace is only found in Jesus. John 14:27 Jesus said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

The moment we fall into a sexual sin the first thing we lose is our peace.

Pursuing peace means to pursue a right standing with God by being obedient to his words.

As Paul describes in 1 Timothy 2:22 by pursuing the right things “we join with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart”, with a clear conscience.

Jinson would agree with me if I say that for us to stand here and preach on a Sunday morning, we can never do it if our hearts are not at peace with God. The struggle is not to prepare our sermons text but more often it is to come to peace with God in our hearts.

Apart for these instructions on fleeing away from youthful passions Paul also tells them to stay away from foolish, ignorant controversies – I believe we’ve already heard a bit of what that means in our previous sermons.

Verse 24 onwards Paul give specific instruction to Timothy on how to conduct himself – “And the Lord’s servant[e] must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”

I don’t think I’m going spend time explaining the rest of the passage as I believe they are self-explanatory. But here’s what I want to say as I conclude.

We can go back this morning with a renewed mind and understanding of what the scriptures have to say about youthful passions, but unless we truly repent and turn away from our sinful habits and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace we will never see and experience the true joy of being a Christian.

I would encourage you to connect with someone during this week and share your life, confess your sins, pray with each other and make a U-turn towards a fruitful, joyous and fulfilling Christian life.

Good morning church! We are going through a series titled “God Alive Church: A journey through the book of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus”. For us as a church it’s been exciting to hear and know what God desires from us individually and corporately as His body. We are in 2 Timothy right now and the context of this letter is essential to understanding the weight and thrust to each of these passages. Paul is writing this letter to his dear friend, companion and disciple Timothy while he’s in prison awaiting his execution. It’s his last few days/months on this earth and he wants to communicate some urgent important instructions for Timothy and the church.

Last week we read how we can be strengthened by the grace of God. And we learnt three analogies by which we were exhorted to have a single-minded focus, obedient and hardworking pursuit of Christ. One thing we need to constantly encourage each other and challenge each other is to live a life worthy of the gospel. God didn’t send His only begotten Son so that we may live in sin. He sent His Son so that we can be free from sin! Jesus didn’t shed His blood on the cross for us so that we receive “Salvation” and then pursue our personal ambitions. Christ became our ambition! Now as his church we want Christ and we want to become like Him! Christ wasn’t nailed on the cross so that you and I live purposeless lives. He gave us a new purpose…an eternal purpose to know Him and introduce Him to others so that we all know and relate to Him as His bride! Let’s not be fooled or deceived by the world and Satan….when everything around you compels you to live for yourself and this life! No, live for Jesus! Live because He showed us grace!

We continue our study this week in 2 Tim 2:15-21

15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,[d] he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

This passage might seem like it’s only meant for full time, professional ministry workers or pastors, but I believe the principles apply to every believer in the church because all of us are called to disciple people…help people become and grow into Jesus (Matt 28)! In that sense all of us have a calling to lead and teach people. Where all does this apply?
• We speak the gospel to each other within the church when people struggle with guilt, doubt, loss of identity, depression, sexual temptation, pride, anger, unforgiveness etc. and suffering.
• Parents need to lead their families to know, trust and love Christ.
• We declare the gospel to unbelievers outside of the church when we interact with them on weekdays at work or college or the streets.

You and I might be employees 5-6 days of the week, but we are Gospel Workers 24/7. And there’s no retirement here! Therefore, it’s very important that as a congregation we understand what this passage is trying to say to us.

1. Diligence as a Gospel Worker

15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

All of us understand the phrase “Do your best” when we think about college or work. But what does it mean as a Gospel Worker? Let me clarify at the outset that you are not working hard and doing your best to earn God’s favour. All of our best efforts are like filthy rags before a holy God. (Is 64:6) We do our best because we have earned unmerited unending favour from God!

So what does “Do your best as a Gospel Worker” mean?

It means to exert yourself and persistently work and put your efforts to present yourself to God as someone approved!

I work in a company where we sell a software product. The software developers build the product but it’s not released immediately. It goes through a testing phase where the Quality Analysts check to see if the developer’s code meets the expectations. Only when the QA team approves, is the product released.

Have you wondered what might it be to be approved by God?

It means two things:

1. Right Message: “rightly handling the word of truth”. Some other versions put it in this way “rightly divide the word of truth”. The illustration is to smoothen or straighten the paths. The idea is to correctly teach the Word of God. This directly applies to elders but as shared earlier applies broadly to every member because all of are part of a royal priesthood with a calling to teach and disciple others (1 Pet 2:9).

And in order to rightly handle the Word of truth it takes time to sit and understand what the passage is trying to say. When we look at Scripture we automatically bring our own baggage and experiences to it. Sometimes it’s our own baggage which prevents us from hearing from God. Sometimes we add things to Scripture that isn’t quite there. So in the last few years I’ve learnt how 3 things are essential to bringing out the right message from Scripture:

Context:
Every book, every passage and every verse has a context. We need to understand the context in which that verse was written. One of the reasons why we follow Expository preaching at our church is because we don’t want to take anything out of context but want to preach messages in the manner that it was written.

Authorial Intent
God used human authors to write Scripture and supernaturally used their personalities, experiences and circumstances as they wrote it. Every letter and book in the Bible has a purpose for which the author wrote it. For ex: John 20:30,31 : Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Gospel Centricity
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:17)
If Scripture is all about Jesus and everything points to Him, then how can our messages be true and complete without showing how everything in that passage is pointing us to Jesus.

2. Right Intent of the Messenger

Another thing that I believe is important is the intent of the messenger. 1 Sam 16:7: The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

So it’s not good enough to have the right doctrine and right theology. Why are you teaching this message? What is the heart behind it?

Do you share the Word so that people can look at you and praise you because of your biblical knowledge?

Do you share the Word with people because you really love them?

Do you share the Word so that Jesus gets the glory? In other words, is it your true desire to see people treasure God, see Him as the most valuable treasure & give Him utmost importance in their hearts?

Do you share the Word with people because you want something back from them? Money, appreciation or acceptance?

Do you share the Word with people because in some way you feel it cancels out the bad stuff you do?

This is a hard hitting truth for me because I know every time I preach or share the Word with another person, I know I also need to have the right intent to communicate the message of God and be approved by Him.

2. Distance yourself from unproductive teachings

16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

Paul tells Timothy to keep away from ungodly teachings and conversations as a speaker and listener. These false teachings end up spreading like gangrene. In science class we would’ve learnt about gangrene….how it infects a part of the body, causes severe inflammation and unless it is operated on will continue to spread in the body. If it reaches the bones, amputation is required. So you can see how this is deadly! That’s how deadly false teaching can be. False teaching has the opposite effect of sound teaching. It makes people more and more ungodly! Two false teachers are mentioned: Hymenaues and Philetus. Hymenaeus was previously mentioned in 1 Timothy when Paul said that he was excommunicated (1 Tim 1:20). It doesn’t seem like he changed. He’s continuing to have an effect on the church saying things like “resurrection has already happened”. For all believers in Christ, we experience a spiritual resurrection when we heard the gospel and repented of our sins and placed our faith in Jesus. And as the Bible says, we will also have a physical resurrection where it will become glorified just like Jesus’s glorified body. Now what these teachers propagated was that it already happened. Firstly, this wrong teaching gives a wrong idea about God. Secondly, this wrong teaching results in a wrong lifestyle.

In today’s day and age, you’ll find false teaching in different ways. Let me cite a few:

1. Prosperity theology: God exists to bless you financially and also give you the best health right now. “Claim it in the name of Jesus”…The Bible never promises a best life now….it promises our best life in heaven! But they twist verses to make it sound like all God wants to do is make you prosper. No! God wants to glorify Himself through His Son Jesus. And sometimes that would mean us going through suffering and persecution in order to glorify God!

2. Over emphasizing Grace: There are some teachers that over emphasize on grace. The Bible talks about grace but never as though it’s cheap. These teachers talk about grace but it’s more in a sense of a license to sin rather than true grace which draws people to repentance. There is no emphasis on repentance. Rom 6:1,2: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

3. Irrelevance: They say that since the Bible isn’t as relevant as it was in 1st century AD, we’ll need to bring in science and modern ideas into the messages. The Bible isn’t sufficient for us. The Bible is then viewed mainly for social and psychological learnings but not to meet God through Jesus.

4. Liberal Theology: It’s as good as Hinduism which says that there are many ways to God. John 14:6 says : Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

5. Jesus as friend but not Lord: This is a very subtle form of false teaching. People say they are believers because they prayed a prayer. But there is no true repentance and understanding of why they needed a Savior. Christ is not the Lord of their life. They are just very Christianized unbelievers.

There are many more but the only way you will not get caught up in this is if you listen and enjoy and grow in pure teaching of the Word. As you drink from Christ – the true fountain, you’ll not want to go and drink from contaminated water! And neither will you want anyone else to drink contaminated water. That’s why it’s important to refute false teaching and also persuade others who are in it to find and drink from the true fountain of living waters!

Paul thinks about how deadly this teaching is and how many believers are getting affected by it. But he ends on an assuring note.

Rest in God’s Sovereign hand over His sheep

19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,[d] he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. 

This is an amazing truth! It is true that there is false teaching in the world today but God’s hand is firmly holding His church. He’s not like a father who doesn’t care about his children. He cares so much that when they were wayward and enroute to hell, He sent His only Son to die and give His life as a ransom to buy them back. He will ensure that His sheep remains in Him. But His people need to respond as well. If you are God’s child, here’s how you will respond when your father corrects you. You will need to repent. “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

You know what’s a key characteristic of being a child of God: you repent frequently and you continue to repent with gladness. You are constantly departing from iniquity! Paul uses an analogy to help us understand this. If we were to contextualize this today, the wood and clay vessels can be compared to something that you would use to pick up something dirty from the floor. You wouldn’t use a silver spoon for that right? Similarly, if you repent and depart from what is dishonourable in you…it can be a wrong teaching and it can be wrong lifestyle and trust on Christ’s work on the cross, Jesus can transform you into a vessel for holiness and for His glory. You can be made into a vessel useful for Christ and live with Him and for Him forever!

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/sermon-saju.mp3″]

Our passage for this Sunday is 2 Timothy 2:1-14.

In these verses we see Paul continues to encourage Timothy and he starts by saying “be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus” – To find strength in the grace of God.

The author of Hebrews in chapter 13:9 resonates something similar as he writes “for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.”

The author of Hebrews is writing in a context where the people were listening to some strange teachings about the power of foods. What he is essentially saying is that we need to find our strength in the grace of Christ Jesus and not in any external factors.

Our Christian walk is not an easy one. I’m sure you must have already figured that out. We are fighting against the powers and principalities of this world that are constantly waging war against us. The enemy wants to tear down our lives, tear down our mission. Jinson and I were talking about how real this battle is especially for both of us who are at the forefront leading the way. There are often times when we let down our guards and end up giving into Satan’s temptation and schemes.

I’m sure you guys have your own set of struggles when it comes to living out the Christian life. Times when you feel ashamed of yourself, times when you feel worthless, lonely, hopeless & guilty.

The first thing I want to encourage you is by reminding you that your battle is not unique and don’t ever let the enemy make you think that others are not going through the same struggles as you are. In fact, we all go through almost the same kinds of battle especially the battles with our flesh, maybe at different levels.

The question I want to ask is what do you do when you go through moments like these? Do you close yourself and go into hiding from the world? Do you break fellowship with your brethren because of shame and guilt? Do you sulk in your depravity and go on sinning even more?

The easiest thing is to do is all of the above and that’s exactly what the devil wants to achieve.

Rather, will you consider going to God and finding strength in his Grace? Paul’s encouragement to us is to find our strength in the grace of God.

What is this grace that Paul is urging us find our strength in?

Grace is a constant theme in the Bible, and it culminates in the New Testament with the coming of Jesus (John 1:17). We can all extend grace to others; but when the word grace is used in connection with God, it takes on a more powerful meaning. Grace is God choosing to bless us rather than curse us as our sin deserves. It is His benevolence to the undeserving.

Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves.” The only way any of us can enter into a relationship with God is because of His grace toward us.

God shows both mercy and grace, but they are not the same. Mercy withholds a punishment we deserve; grace gives a blessing we don’t deserve. In mercy, God chose to cancel our sin debt by sacrificing His perfect Son in our place. But He goes even further than mercy and extends grace to His enemies (Romans 5:10). He offers us forgiveness (Hebrews 8:12; Ephesians 1:7), reconciliation (Colossians 1:19-20), abundant life (John 10:10), eternal treasure (Luke 12:33), His Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13), and a place in heaven with Him some day (John 3:16-18) when we accept His offer and place our faith in His sacrifice.

Grace is God giving the greatest treasure to the least deserving—which is every one of us.

Finding strength in God’s grace means letting loose of our guilt, our pride, our arrogance and trusting in the finished work of Christ for the sake of our sins even the ones that we committed this morning.

But remember, it begins when we come to God with a genuine heart of repentance, humbling ourselves in his presence and surrendering to his Lordship and Authority.

Paul then goes on to encourage Timothy in verse 1 saying “what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men,[a] who will be able to teach others also.”

You see, finding strength for ourselves by the grace that is in Christ Jesus is not enough. We are called to now share the same with other hurting people.

Often times when we get to meet with family or friends going through a tough situation we tend give them advice based on our experiences and expertise.

But the truth is that it is only the grace of God that can give a person true liberty from his hurting situation. Our expert advice will only give relief for a moment.

We preach and present only Christ and Christ alone.

In verse 8-14 Paul says

8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for:If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful — for he cannot deny himself. 14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God[b] not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.

This is why we are chosen, this is why we are called – To preach and present the gospel and share the grace of God to all mankind.

And we ought to do it with due diligence at all times, till the last breath of our life.

Paul goes on to give us three analogies to explain how we ought to do it.

The first analogy Paul gives is “Like a good SOLDIER share in the suffering of Christ and please the one who enlisted you without getting entangled in civilian pursuits” (verse 3-4)

In sharing the gospel our number one priority should be to please our heavenly father and not pomp up with pride thinking that we are doing a favour to the Lord. Remember we are his servants and he is our master.

And as soldier, to be effective in our calling we might even have to consider disengaging ourselves from unhealthy civilian pursuits.

I was telling Jinson yesterday that one of my challenges in these last couple of days were to identify areas in my life that distracts me from pursuing God, certain activities whether in business or in personal life that draw my attention away from devoting my time and energy to God.

Some of things I identified as distraction and stopped doing it were browsing through social media feeds especially facebook and instagram. I think I’m quite ok with Likedin and Twitter, they don’t bother me too much. Watching very selective kind of movies. I stopped watching TV long back so that’s already sorted out. Allowing my clients access to me 24X7, they were real botheration to me giving me calls anytime during the day and talk about business – I guess I need to think of a better way to doing business and making money.

As a soldier of Christ you need to ask yourself what are some of the civilian pursuits that disengage you from being effective for the Lord. Identify them and get rid of them. You have a better purpose in Life than pursuing the things of the world.

The second analogy Paul gives is “Like an ATHELETE compete according to the rules” (verse 5)

Remember the rules are laid out by the Lord, his WORD is his grace filled rule book.

We can’t defeat the enemy unless we follow this rule book.

Our journey of leading people from darkness to light is almost like the journey of Joshua leading God’s people from wilderness to the promised land. When Joshua was assigned to lead the people of Israel out of wilderness the instruction that was given to him in Joshua 1:7-8 was “ be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success[a] wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

An athlete can never win any competition if he/she fails to follow the rules of the game, in fact they will be terminated from the game after several warnings.

Similarly as servants of God we cannot win this battle of saving the lives of our loved ones from the clutches of hell if we fail to read and meditate on the word of God ourselves. We can never convince anybody if we ourselves aren’t convinced and don’t have a right perspective of the Gospel truths.

By bringing people to the knowledge of Christ we are not building our kingdom, it is God who is building his kingdom and uses us as an instrument in his hand. And therefore we are not called to make additional plans and strategies that override the plans and strategies mentioned in the book. Rather as good athlete we follow the rulebook as it is and diligently follow Gods heart.

The third analogy Paul gives is – Like a FARMER work hard (verse 6)

Serving the Lord and serving his people is hard work. We can’t accomplish this while sitting on a comfortable couch all the time.

Going the extra mile is never an easy task.

Paul sets an example of hard work when he writes in 1 Cor 15:10

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

He really worked. And yet he says it was not him, but the grace of God.

Grace makes Paul who he is and grace accomplishes in Paul the crazy-eyed, joy-filled labor for the gospel of which we Gentiles are all beneficiaries.

As Christians we should work hard, but we work more for the joy of all the good our work can bring to others.

As I conclude I want all of you to think deeply about your lives, where do you think your life is heading to?

Are you allowing your guilt and shame to stop you from going to God and finding strength in his grace

And if you’ve already enjoying the love and grace of God are you been too selfish not to share with your hurting brothers and sisters and console them to trust in Jesus and his finished work on the cross?

As a good soldier are you willing to please the one who enlisted you, even to the point of disengaging in civilian pursuits that distract you from doing so?

Do you soak yourself in God’s word daily so you can be like the athlete who plays by the rules and wins the battle on Gods strengths and by the guidance of the Holy spirit.

Like the farmer are you willing to work hard, leave your comfort zone, walk the extra mile to serve one another?

Let’s come to God in prayer and search our hearts and make a commitment to him.

Series: God Alive Church – a journey through 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus

Last Sunday we started with 2 Timothy and Jinson took us through chapter 1 verse 1-7  (Full sermon on Be Bold in the Lord – 2 Timothy 1:1-7) where we looked at the whole aspect of been bold. Being bold in our witness, being bold in confronting sins within the church, being bold against false teachers.

And we become bold by first remembering each other in prayer, by expressing our faith and exercising our gifts & by relying on the Holy Spirit.

This Sunday we will look at the rest of the verses in chapter 1 i.e verse 8 to 18.

Let’s open our bible to 2 Timothy 1:8-18

In this passage Paul is encouraging Timothy to not be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord. What he is saying is do not feel ashamed to be a witness of Christ. But instead he says “share in suffering for the gospel”.

I believe the suffering Paul is talking about is not just a general suffering caused because of sickness and pain in our physical body. But Paul is specifically talking about the suffering caused
– because of the Gospel
– because of our salvation & calling in Christ
– because of us pursuing the purposes of God
– because of us living under the grace of God.

Where do I get that? – I get that from verse 9-12

Share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to[a] a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,[b] 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher,12 which is why I suffer as I do.

Paul talks about his suffering for the sake of the gospel in 2 Cor 11:22-33

The aspect of suffering is often misunderstood or misinterpreted in our Christian context. It is either perceived as something that every Christian should endure to the extent that they beat their bodies to death or something that needs to rejected and looked upon as a curse from God. Most prosperity gospel preachers will tell you that suffering is not from God and that God only blesses.

And therefore I think it is important that we have the right perspective about suffering before we look at the rest of the verses in 2 Timothy 1.

The truth about Christian suffering is all Christians suffer. Either you have, you are, or you will
Acts 14:22 – “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God”

Romans 8:28 contains some comforting words for those enduring hardship and suffering: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” In His providence, God orchestrates every event in our lives—even suffering, temptation and sin—to accomplish both our temporal and eternal benefit.

The psalmist David endured much suffering in his time, and this is reflected in many of his poems collected in the book of Psalms. In Psalm 22, we hear David’s anguish: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? Oh my God, I cry out by day but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: ‘He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.’”

In Matthew 16:24 Jesus said to his disciples ,”If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

Matthew 10:38 “And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me”

Suffering is not just physical but even mental & spiritual. Suffering for the sake of righteousness. Suffering to keep our lives holy by denying ourselves of all our fleshly desires.

Before we look into some practical advices by Paul in the rest of the verses let me share some important biblical truths about suffering.

1. Suffering may come in many forms

The apostle Paul wrote, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8–9).

In these two verses, Paul lists several types of suffering — it includes mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual. Each of these are different ways that we can suffer, and when suffering comes, often several of these types of suffering are involved.

The Bible doesn’t whitewash our experience of suffering by saying that it’s only one kind of suffering. Rather, it recognizes the multifaceted ways that suffering can come upon us.

2. Suffering happens in community

What I mean by that is suffering should be a shared experience within the local church community or as body of Christ. Galatians 6:2 encourages us to bear one another’s burdens.

Which means when one member of the church body suffers for the sake of the gospel then the whole body needs to carry that person’s burden by empathizing, praying & encouraging one another.

Within the local church body suffering for the gospel should be a shared experience. We don’t suffer alone but we suffer as a community. This truth should give us comfort knowing that we are not alone to carry our burdens.

3. Suffering prepares us for ministry

The third biblical truth about suffering is that it prepares us for ministry

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:4 that God “comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

A minister of God – David Powlison in his book “Suffering and sovereignity of God” writes

“When you’ve passed through your own fiery trials, and found God to be true to what he says, you have real help to offer. You have firsthand experience of both his sustaining grace and his purposeful design. He has kept you through pain; he has reshaped you more into his image. . . . What you are experiencing from God, you can give away in increasing measure to others. You are learning both the tenderness and the clarity necessary to help sanctify another person’s deepest distress.”

Our suffering when endured with joy and hope equips us to bless and encourage another brother or sister who is going through the same situation.

4. Suffering is a battleground

Wherever there is suffering, there is a battle — a battle for our soul.

The book of Job teaches us that there can be two outcomes of the suffering that come upon our lives. We can either lose our soul by cursing God because of our present suffering or we can preserve our soul by praising God even in the midst of suffering.

5. Suffering prepares us for future glory

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:17–18, “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Our natural response to suffering is often avoidance. But God brings suffering in our lives for the sake of our eternal joy — yes, even glory.

I like some of the shared observations and comments that were posted on our bible reading whatsapp group when we were going through the passage 1 Peter on suffering. Let me mention some of them just in case you missed reading it.

One of Jinson’s comment was “Suffering can apply in various ways today. Being insulted or ridiculed because of our commitment to Jesus. Made fun of because we don’t use shortcuts or compromises to get things done.”

Jane’s comment said “suffering is not a surprise but it’s a plan or will of God for our testing, it strengthens our faith. Our sufferings are not just our own but Christ’s which indicates we are united in Christ and He is glorified in our actions and attitudes. When we rejoice, it shows that Christ and not other things are more desirable and precious and that Jesus is the source of the joy we experience”

Suffering is a Plan – I love that statement

And therefore, the prayer that we need to make while we go through suffering is not for God to take away the sufferings from our lives but to ask for help to endure sufferings with joy and rejoicing.

In Romans 5:3 onwards Paul says we need to be rejoicing in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

In the light what we now know about suffering what is the encouragement does the rest of the verses in 1 Timothy 1 gives us.

The first encouragement Paul is giving to us is

1. Do not be ashamed (verse 8)

Do not feel ashamed and feel distressed when you suffer for the sake of the Gospel.

Paul is saying this to Timothy as a word of comfort because probably Timothy himself is going through fear and shame.

Imagine, someone like Timothy who Paul laid hands on and identified his gifts, called by God to pastor this influential church in Ephesus actually suffered from the same things we do today — fear and shame in gospel living, gospel ministry and gospel sharing.

The world ashamed is used 4 times in this letter. The fact that it is used this many times in such a short letter shows that it is a natural tendency for Christians to be ashamed of the gospel.

Shame is a powerful deterrent to righteous action. To identify in the presence of others with something they disapprove of is always difficult.

Shame defined:

Feelings associated with (but not limited to) failure, public exposure, disgrace, embarrassment, social rejection, ridicule, and dishonor.

Shame and fear go together.

Pauls teaching in v.7 – that God gave us not a spirit of fear but of power, love and self control is foundational to what follows. Do not be ashamed of the Gospel!

The second encouragement we get from Paul is found in verse 12 where he mentions “I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me”

Suffering may kill our physical body but it can never destroy the hope within us that has been entrusted to us because God himself and God alone is the one that guards our heart. Which is why we need to have total dependence on Gods sovereignty and plan. Being prayerful at all times asking God to guard and protect our soul from been corrupted by the world and the things of the world.

In times of suffering our dependence should be on God’s ability and not ours.

In Romans 8:28 Paul reminds us that in all things God works together for our good.

The third encouragement we receive from Paul is found in verse 13 where he says “Follow the pattern of the sound words (or teaching, or doctrine) that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus”

Especially in times of suffering and hardships it is important for us to guard the truth of the gospel. It is during these times that we easily get swayed away by false doctrines, wrong teachings that take our focus away from Jesus and we make ourselves the center of attraction.

We need to hold on to the truth that Jesus is sufficient, we need to be satisfied in Him no matter what happens around. In times of loss, in times of need, in times of pain, in times of distress, we need to respond in faith and stick to the pattern of sound doctrinal truth that will guard our heart from getting corrupted.

Even in the darkest moments of our life we have to treasure the fact that we are a child of God, loved by him, treasured by him, preserved by him. We need to echo the words of Paul in Phillipians 1:21 no matter what happens “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”.

To remember that any which ways “My life on earth is temporary” – like grass that withers, flower that falls off. “My suffering is temporary” because in Christ I have a new hope, hope of an eternal life spent in heaven.

When you suffer for the gospel refuse to believe the condemning words of the world, refuse to believe the lies of the enemy that says you are not loved, you are not special, refuse to believe that God is incapable to save you from your suffering. But believe in the sounds words of the scriptures that give us hope.

Ephesians 1:11-14 says The day we put we our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we were destined and appointed to live for the praise of HIS glory. In him we who heard the word of truth, the gospel of salvation, we who believed, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire the possession of it, to the praise of HIS glory.

These are the words of sound teaching that we need to treasure at all times.

The fourth and final encouragement we receive from Paul is found in verse 14 where he says “By the Holy Spirit that dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you”

Remember, we have been entrusted with the same Gospel, the same truths, the same doctrines, the same deposit that Timothy was. So if it is important for Timothy to hear this word, it is important for us as well. Especially in times of suffering.

This Deposit is good news!
• It ought to be treasured for what it is
• It ought to be boldly shared with …
• dying colleagues,
• dying friends, loved ones & family members
• dying neighbors,
• dying cashiers,
• dying postal workers,
• dying classmates,
• dying commuters
• dying strangers
• dying flight attendants,
• dying peoples in 196 countries of the world.

Just because we’re going through some kind of suffering doesn’t mean that we stop preaching and sharing the gospel.

As parents we need to guard the gospel truths for the sake of our children
As friends we need to guard the gospel truths for the sake of our other friend
As church leaders we need to guard the gospel truths for the sake of our congregation
As members of the body of Christ we need to guard the gospel truths for the sake of our brothers and sisters.

The gospel truths are entrusted to us by God so that we preserve it for our next generation, through suffering, through calamity.

Let’s remember the stalwarts of our faith who endured suffering and even gave their lives for the sake of the gospel.

Acts 6 & 7 records the story of Stephen who was stoned to death for speaking the truth of Jesus Christ.

Peter, the disciple of Jesus was martyred under Nero’s reign. Tradition holds that he was crucified upside down.

A man named Polycrap, who was the disciple of Apostle John. Historians say that Polycrap may have been responsible for compiling the new testament of the bible that we have today. He was burnt alive for refusing to burn incense to the Roman Emperor.

John Wycliff, a 14th century theologian responsible for translating the Latin bible into common English. He was killed & His body was exhumed and burned along with many of his writings.

John Huss, a Czech priest was burnt alive for standing the heresy of the catholic church.

William Tyndale, known for his translation of the bible into English was choked to death while tied to the stake and then his dead body was burned

Jim Elliot and his four missionary friends were slaughtered to death for reaching out to the Auca tribe with the gospel of Jesus.

Brothers & sisters, there is huge price that has been paid for Christians martyrs because of which today we are gathered here to celebrate the gospel. People who stood the test of time to guard and preserve the gospel from reaching out to nations.

Finally, as I close I want to encourage each one of you to search your heart this morning and ask these following questions to yourself.

How do you view suffering for the sake of the gospel? What do you believe the word of God says?

Is your heart ready to endure sufferings that glorify God?

Do you feel ashamed to be called a follower of Christ?

Are you convinced that God is able to guard your heart?

Are you holding fast to the sound doctrines of the bible in times of trouble and pain?

Are you guarding and preserving the gospel that is entrusted to you?

And lets come to God and allow him change our hearts this morning and help us live faithfully for the sake of His kingdom.

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/170709_1136.mp3″]

We’ve had an amazing journey studying the book of 1 Timothy. We completed the letter of 1 Timothy last Sunday and we are starting with 2 Timothy this week. In terms of its biblical context it does seem like a couple of years of years passed since his last letter to Timothy. Some things have changed since then. Paul was arrested and imprisoned in Rome for a second time. From the description given in this letter it does seem like this imprisonment was much more severe and confined than the previous experience. So much so, that a believer named Onesiphorus needed to search earnestly in order to find him. (1:17) All of Paul’s companions abandoned him by this point. His chains and his martyrdom were too much for the others so they left him alone. Only Luke remained with him (4:11). It’s in a cold dungeon as he’s waiting for his “departure”, he writes a farewell letter to his disciple, faithful companion and close friend.
This letter is ordained and written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit but we’ll see elements of personal heartfelt statements as Paul remembers his memories with Timothy. Few of the key themes that we’ll come across in this letter are:
• Suffering
• Truth
• Godliness

Let’s look at the first seven verses of 2 Timothy 1 for today’s meditation:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,

2 To Timothy, my beloved child:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Tim 1:1-7)

In our Christian walk there are many instances where it calls us to be bold! Let me also say by boldness I don’t mean arrogance, dominating and harsh. In our culture, that’s what we refer to as being bold. Being bold is like Arnab Goswami is what we think in today’s culture. However, biblically being bold is about having strong convictions about the truths of the gospel but expressing it with gentleness and humility.
24 And the Lord’s servant[e] must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth (2 Tim 2:24, 25)

So there are quite a few places where it requires us to be bold:

1. We need to be bold in our witness. We need to boldly speak the truths about Jesus while speaking to unbelievers.

2. We need to be bold while confronting the sins within the church. This is probably something we don’t hear nowadays. “Oh, well you have no right to tell me what to do” or “Who made you judge over my life?” These might be the responses you will hear if you confront sin in today’s church. However, as we see in Scripture the church is the body of Christ and we have a role in maintaining its purity and unity. So there’s always going to be a need for confronting sin until we are made perfect (completely separated from the presence of sin) on the day Christ returns. Paul in Galatians 2 confronts Peter with his sin because the moment a few people from the Jewish circumcision party came to Antioch, he withdrew himself from the Gentiles and only ate with Jews. Paul had to confront him because this was hypocrisy and would negatively affect the Gentile believers at Antioch. And this was Peter! Just imagine having to confront someone like Peter. That requires boldness, don’t you agree?

3. We need to be bold against false teachers. That was the context of Ephesus at that time. Timothy’s role as a pastor there was to teach the right doctrine but also refute and stop the false teachers from influencing the church. Even though some time has passed since Paul’s first letter it seems like the false teachers were still having an influence in the church. Timothy was also facing opposition from these men. They were probably older in age and claimed to be “wiser” and more knowledgeable. He needed boldness to refute them.

So we do understand that boldness is required. But what about times when we aren’t bold but timid. Here’s how today’s passage can empower us to have godly boldness:

1. Remembering each other constantly in prayer (v3)

3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.

One thing I wonder when I look at this passage is, why does Paul thank God for Timothy?

It’s a prayer of thanksgiving along with petitions made for him. Paul is probably thanking God for choosing Timothy sovereignly. In God’s Sovereign wisdom, He chose Timothy to be adopted as His son in Christ. Paul’s also probably thanking God for saving Timothy. The gospel one fine day started to make sense to him. It’s like the lights went on! Suddenly the story of Christ crucified on the cross seemed so beautiful to him because he saw that his sins were placed on the cross. Christ rising from the dead gave so much hope and joy to Timothy that he wanted it and desired to repent and place his full trust in what Christ did for him. It’s the story of every believer. And Paul rightly could thank God for that. Paul then probably thanked God for the many ways in which Timothy is being changed into the likeness of Jesus. Paul has fond memories of the first time he shared the gospel with Timothy. And then seeing Timothy grow through those years of life on life discipleship – 15-20 years. Paul also probably thanks God for using Timothy to lead and minister to the church in Ephesus which was a growing church.

The next question is why does Paul constantly pray for Timothy? Doesn’t God already know what Paul has been asking for Timothy? Why pray more?

Sometimes we forget the purpose of prayer. Prayer is not designed so that God can find out what we need.

for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matt 6:8)

Prayer expresses our trust on God and is a means by which our trust increases. When we look at the “unceasing”, “non-stop” prayers that Paul makes for believers in other letters we see how he actually believes and has faith in what he prays. It’s not because he just wants to say something positive and encouraging to the believers. Here are some examples:

11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thess 1:11-12)

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks[d] to the Father, who has qualified you[e] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Col 1:9-12)

You see a firm conviction that God will answer because these requests are in perfect accordance to God’s will.

In Luke 11, just after the Lord’s prayer Jesus encourages his disciples to pray because God delights and responds to his people’s prayer.

11 What father among you, if his son asks for[d] a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

If we knew how God acts and accomplishes His purposes through prayers of his people, we wouldn’t stop praying!!!

Just know that one of the most powerful and real ways in which you can help and encourage your brother and sister in Christ who struggles with timidity and fear is by praying for them.

2. Reminding each other how sincere faith is expressed by exercising our gifts

5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands

What does Paul mean “By sincere faith”? It means a faith that is genuine and not hypocritical.

Paul is trying to encourage Timothy by reminding him of his faith and also talking about his spiritual heritage. Not to say that Timothy inherited his faith from his mother or granny. No, we enter into a relationship with Christ through personal faith. But the work of Christ in his family’s life was visible evidence to the work and power of Christ! Which is why it’s important to see our homes as one of the most key places where we display who Christ is to our family members! The way we talk about the gospel, the way we apply the gospel and the way we respond to the gospel matters at home especially.

Paul makes an interesting connection between this verse on sincere faith and relates that with the next verse which talks about “fanning into flame the gift of God”. Even though in this passage it’s not clear what the gift is but I really believe it’s referring to his gifting of “preaching and teaching”. Where do we see that?

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Tim 4:1,2)

13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them,[c] so that all may see your progress. (1 Tim 4:13-15)

So that was his gifting but let’s understand the principle here. If you have sincere faith, then it will need to be expressed by using your gifts to help and serve the body! You cannot have a situation of a person who says “I have really genuine faith but I don’t want to serve a local church”.

Saju and I were just talking a few days back of how sometimes the main reason why we fail to experience joy and life in our Christian walk is due to boredom! We are just bored lacking that purpose which needs to drive us each day. And Christ didn’t give us gifts to “preserve” them. He gave them to us graciously so that we may “spend” them on the people he’s placed around us. Just imagine how passionate and life-giving your life would be if you thought each day “I need to use my gift to serve this person, I need to use my gift to meet this need, I need to use my gift to bless this person”. Our job as elders is to facilitate and encourage multiple gifts and ways by which the body is being built up into Jesus. Our conviction is that if we are all not contributing and serving each other, then we in fact end up hurting each other.

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:15-16)

The illustration that helps me understand this is how if one of our legs is injured, the other leg has to apply extra effort in order to make the body move forward. And it’s true about the church too.

My personal experience with this is: I’ve seen so much of joy and passion as I’ve invested and spent myself in serving others with my gift. That in turn has also fuelled my faith. So let’s have those conversations about how can we use our gifts more and more.

Seeing Christ work through our administration of our gifts as we serve each other adds more confidence and boldness in our faith. That’s the principle behind 1 Tim 3:13.

Lastly, we can be encouraged to be bold by:

3. Understanding the power of the Holy Spirit within us

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (v7)

How many of us truly believe this verse? Often in churches like ours it’s a topic we end up wither side-lining or diminishing in terms of its focus. If I have to be honest, this understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit is something that I have a lot to grow in. When we look at the book of Acts and even other places where the Spirit is mentioned it’s in a sense of power and divine strength being given to the believer. Often times when we talk about the Holy Spirit we think of it as a fire-cracker when it’s supposed to be a dynamite in the sense of His power! Here are a few verses that reveal the miraculous power of the Spirit:

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:8-11)

2 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Gal 5:22)

In the book of Acts, whenever we see instances of the disciples being “filled in the Spirit” it results in them boldly declaring about Jesus. And if we have believed in Jesus, we too have the same Spirit in us!

Also, this Spirit empowers us to love God and people in a special way! Which means that even during times when we are being severely persecuted for our faith, the Spirit will strengthen us to love God. Also, with respect to love…the Spirit will empower us to love people who hate us. And sometimes these things seem unimaginable or extremely hard but that’s the powerful Spirit within us. We do have to be step with the Spirit. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. (v25)

There is an action, a human responsibility involved here. For example, if we aren’t spending time fuelling our love for God by studying Scripture, we cannot automatically expect affections for God to suddenly turn on. True Christianity isn’t lazy Christianity! Another example is if we don’t take radical measures to kill sin and keep ourselves pure, we cannot expect our love for God to grow from there.

Finally, self-control…why is self-control mentioned in that list? How does self-control relate with boldness?

I believe the lack of self-control often affects us from being bold for the Lord. Either it adds a lot of guilt. “How can I share about Jesus when I myself struggle with an excess love for money, position, pleasure?” Or where it becomes a reason for reproach from others where they point fingers at our lifestyle.

I hope we don’t look at this passage and feel disheartened if we don’t see perfect love for God or people, or perfect self-control being exhibited in our lives. The bible has a word called “repent” which means change of mind and turning back to God. Acknowledging the Spirit’s work in our life and now keeping in step with the Spirit.

There is a reason why Paul mentioned these ways reasons to encourage Timothy in his moment of fear: remembering him in prayer constantly, reminding him to exercise his spiritual gift and helping him understand the power of Spirit that is in him. Let these three ways encourage our hearts toward immense boldness in the faith!

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/2nd-july-saju-sermon.mp3″]

Our passage for today is 1 Timothy 6:11-21

These are the last words of Paul in his letter to Timothy. And after giving quite a few instructions on various church matters he is now concluding his letter with some wise advice.

Before we look into the passage I must mention how impressed I am with this man and his wisdom and insight. I see a man who has truly understood the meaning of life as a follower of Jesus, a man who has his heart set on the right things, a man who is so deeply in love with Jesus and his teachings that he just cant keep it to himself but expresses it every time he talks to people and even when he is writing letters.

His words are truly an overflow of his heart, belief & love for Jesus. They are impressive and at the same time contagious. Instead of chasing hundred gurus or wise men of this world who claim to have the knowledge God & the spiritual world, if we can understand the heart of this simple yet godly man through his words in these letters we will truly be able to see God for who is he and live the life that will give true meaning and satisfaction as long as we live on this earth.

With these thoughts about the man who wrote the letter lets look at this piece of the passage and understand what he is trying to communicate and what we need to understand about true Christian living.

There are two foundational things I want all of us grab hold of which is also seen clearly through these initial verses before we get into the practical applications later on.

You see, If we are a follower of Jesus and want to learn what it means to live a Godly life then the first foundational statement we need to grab hold of as a Christian is that “Our Life is not meant to chase the world and the things in it”

In verse 11 Paul is saying “O man of God, flee from these things”, he is saying in connection to his previous statements in 1 Timothy 6:6-11.

Let me also support my argument with another verse from 1 John 2:15-17 which says

Do not love the world or the things in the world (which includes money and possessions Paul talks about in 1 Timothy 6:6-11). If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life[a]—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

This verse has one clear commandment and three viable explanation. The commandment is “Do not love the world”

We live in a culture where we are taught by our parents, our teachers, our friends that the goal of life is to attain materials things & earthly possessions. A child is told that he needs to study well so that he can pass this school, get into a good college and complete his graduation so that he can get a good paying job that will help him save money so that he can get married, raise children, live a comfortable life and fulfill his responsibilities by leaving wealth and earthy possessions for his next generation.

The world is a crazy place where people are crazy after money and possessions.

If you want to know how crazy and world is then you should read the tweet by President Donald Trump 2 days back which revealed a secret money making trading tool that gaurentees 99.9% accuracy and he said in his tweet that anyone not using this is a dumb. People who do not chase the world and the wealth of this world is considered as dumb.

Beloved, It is a universal truth that people eventually end up suffering because they lead a worldly life in this material world. I’m quoting this from the Hindu vedas. The vedas assert that life is not meant to seek worldly wealth and possessions but for tapasya, which means devotion to God. Even though the teachings of the vedas lead people into a wrong understanding of God but the statement about people chasing after wealth and afflicting themselves with suffering has been a real problem from ages.

Here’s what the bible says in 1 John 2:15-17 The first explanation to why “Do not love the world” is because “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him”. The Love for the world pushes out love for the Father.

The second explanation in the same verses to why “Do not love the world” is because “the world and all that in it, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life – is not from the Father”.

The third explanation to why “Do not love the world” is because “the world is passing away along with its desires”

And finally the verse ends with an encouragement saying “whoever does the will of God abides forever”

What does doing the will of God looks like?

It is a life that pursues God and Godly things. 1 Timothy 6:11 says it is the pursuit of righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness & gentleness.

Which leads us to my second foundational statement that is as a Christian “Our pursuit is a heavenly pursuit”. In verse 12 Paul says “Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses”

I don’t know whether what I’m saying is too deep for you to understand. I cant think of any other easy way to explain this at the moment.

Here’s what I want to say – We will never ever discover true happiness and fulfillment if our pursuit is not a heavenly pursuit.

I hope thats a simple and easy statement to remember. My son Jairus was sitting next to me while I was writing that statement and suddenly stopped me to say Dad you know what I love that line you wrote. It is so true and I truly believe it with my heart.

In the next few verses from 1 Timothy 6:13-21 I believe Paul goes on to share three key things to keep in mind as we continue to pursue the things of God.

The first key is found in verse 14 where he says “Keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ”. What Paul is saying is that we should be careful and ensure that the commandments of Jesus is unstained and free from reproach by our act of consistent obedience to them.

The commandments of the one who is blessed and sovereign, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in the unapproachable light, whom no one has even seen or can see, to the one to whom belongs the honor and eternal dominion. Jesus Christ.

Our obedience to Jesus’ words is what shows whether we truly love him and that his words are Life changing. Merely calling ourselves as a follower of Jesus and living a completely ungodly lives stains the words of Jesus and makes people disapprove and show disappointment in their actions towards Christians.

Jesus himself said in John 14:23 “Anyone who loves me will obey my words”. Our obedience to Jesus is the proof that we truly love him, cherish him and treasure him above everything else of this world.

Have you noticed in fact when we end up failing to walk in obedience to Jesus’ words our hearts stops pursuing God and starts pursuing the things of the world. I’ve noticed that happening to me. There are times when I feel the peace of God rest in my heart, free from worry, free from fear. And then suddenly I end up disobeying God in some way and the peace suddenly vanishes and I end up worrying about the same things of the world that never bothered me before.

It shows that there is definitely a connection between pursuing god & godly things and keeping the commandments of Jesus.

“We pursue Godly things by keeping his commandments and keeping his commandments helps us pursue Godly things.”

The second key is found in verses 18-19 where Paul is saying “Store up treasures by doing good, by being rich in good works & by being generous and ready to share”. Even though these verses are addressed specifically to the rich people in this present age I believe they are equally applicable to every Christian who wants to enjoy life.

First and foremost we ought to treasure the Lord Jesus above everything else. When Jesus is our treasure, we will commit our resources—our money, our time, our talents—to His work in this world. Our motivation for what we do needs to be right. Jesus should be our motivation.

In verse 17 Paul is says “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” verse 18-19 – They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

The reason this key is important is because Jesus says in Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”

It doesn’t mean that being rich is ungodly, but been rich to the extend where your heart is completely captured by the treasure you have accumulated for yourself is ungodly. Rather we should hold our possessions loosely and willing to generously share by doing good to others.

Doing good also means in a spiritual sense to be willing to do good to others by sharing the good news of Jesus every time when an opportunity comes your way.

Even when we live sacrificially for Jesus’ sake or serve Him by serving the body of Christ, we store up treasure in heaven. Even seemingly small acts of service do not go unnoticed by God.

“If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward” (Matthew 10:42).

Our pursuit of godliness should lead us to store treasures in heaven that neither moth nor rust can destroy. verse 19 say We need to lay it down as a good foundation for the future, so that you make take hold of that which is truly life.

The third statement in these passages that has a connection with our pursuit of God is verse 20 where Paul writes “Guard the deposit entrusted to you”.

The deposit Paul is talking about is the deposit of the Gospel truths, the teachings of and about Christ that needs to be guarded from irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called ‘knowledge“.

After so many years of being a Christian I am so glad that I am here today with the deposits of the right biblically doctrines which is in accordance to the Gospel. Thanks to my mentors and friends who’ve contributed to this growth.

Starting from a very legalistic church environment to a more liberal church culture where Gods grace was taken for granted mixed with the prosperity teachings.

When I look back and think of how God has led me through all of that to a place now where I’ve come to treasure the Gospel is such precious and I want to guard this with all my strength and life.

That is exactly what Paul is urging Timothy to do.

Our ongoing pursuit of heavenly things should include guarding the deposit of the Gospel truths entrusted to us by God through his servants.

The word ‘irreverent babble’ reminds of people who have so much to say that they don’t even think of whom that are speaking and what the outcome of that conversation will lead to. These kind of talks have always led people astray and sadly they call it ‘knowledge‘.

The saddest part is when people are swerved away from their belief and the gospel as Paul writes in verse 21.

Brothers & Sisters, these truths that you hear today has been entrusted to us by God as a good deposit and we need to guard it with our life. As parents, as elders, as teachers, as friends.

Our attempts to guard the Gospel reveals a heart that is constantly pursuing God and the things of God.

I hope this passage has given us a Godly perspective of what it means to Pursue God and that you will remember and remind yourself these truths.

God bless you.

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/jinsin-the-roots-of-flase-teaching.mp3″]

3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound[b] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and[c] we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

1. Identifying False Teaching (v3-5)
2. Identifying Godliness (v6-8)
3. Identifying the Desire to get rich (v9-10)

As a church we’ve been studying the book of 1 Timothy. It’s been a very meaningful journey as we’ve learnt what the gospel is and how it affects and shapes the life of the church. We’ve seen how the gospel applies to the roles of men and women in the church, we’ve seen how the gospel helps us select the right people to be elders and deacons of the church, we’ve seen how the gospel trains us up for godliness and over the last three weeks we’ve seen how the gospel empowers us to honor different groups of people: widows, elders and our masters.

Last week’s sermon was super helpful to me as it helped me understand how I could glorify God in my workplace using those 5 biblical principles. This week’s sermon is titled “Getting to the root” and I believe today’s passage speaks about identifying false teaching, identifying godliness and identifying the desire to get rich.

1. Identifying False Teaching (v3-5)

3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound[b] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

The first thing that catches my attention in verse 3 is that Paul is writing against those who teach a different doctrine that doesn’t agree with the sound (healthy) words of our Lord Jesus Christ. The sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ refer to his life, teachings and work. Now why would that be important?

So when Paul brought the gospel to Ephesus and spent that time teaching and training the disciples, he didn’t produce a new teaching. All he did was apply the sound words of Jesus. Even when you read all of the other letters, Paul isn’t trying to bring some new idea to the church. What he does is he elaborates and explains the life, death and resurrection of Jesus! And this is critical in our day and age where we are more concerned about what’s new rather than what’s true! In our Christian culture we are much more eager to listen to a new thought or idea rather than listen to the same gospel message that gives life to our souls!

In Luke 24 when Jesus meets the two disciples walking to Emmaus, he tells them how all of Scripture beginning from Moses and all the prophets concern about himself. Later on in the chapter when he meets his disciples, he tells them how he needed to fulfill all the prophecies that were written about him in the Law of Moses, Prophets and Psalms. (v27, 44-47)

That’s why anyone who strives to be faithful to the Scriptures needs to talk about Jesus all the time because all the Scriptures talk about him. No preacher can add anything to the Bible or the gospel. In fact adding anything would mean making the gospel powerless and ineffective.

When Paul came to the Corinthians the first time, And I, when I came to you, brothers,[a] did not come proclaiming to you the testimony[b] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men[c] but in the power of God. (1 Cor 2:1-5)

It was a culture that adored and looked up to new philosophies and ideas. They would’ve really been impressed if he changed the gospel and made it look new and hip. However, even then he still didn’t play to the galleries but chose to preach Christ crucified so that people’s hearts be truly changed by the power of God!

In order to know if the teacher is true, the questions for the church to evaluate are:

Is Christ being made much of through the sermon? Does Christ look big to you as a result of the preaching of the Word? Who is the centre of the sermon? Is it the preacher or Christ?

This is a big one. Is the preacher making the message more about his jokes, quips, stories or is it about displaying Christ as he is. As we learnt a few weeks back, the job of the elder is to remove all kinds of barriers to ensure that the Word is handled and preached as it is supposed to be: the Word of God. That also involves removing themselves from becoming the object of worship. This I do understand also has to do with the heart of the listener but there are many today who intentionally use the pulpits to make themselves known rather than Jesus.

Is the message calling you to repent of the idols in your heart? We see that when Peter encounters Jesus in Luke 5. After the miracle, when Peter understands that he is in the presence of Holy God, he doesn’t just stand there and have small talk. He falls at Jesus’ knees and says “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord”.

Are you being encouraged to trust in Christ’s work or yourself?

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8,9)

Talk about counter-cultural. Today if someone came up to and told you “whatever you do, your going to fail on your own strength”. How would that make you feel? Yet that’s the story of the gospel, it tells us how weak and incapable we are to make ourselves right before God. The only way we can be rescued is by relying on the sacrifice made by someone else. Yes, you need to trust in Christ’s life, death and resurrection to rescue you from the wrath that comes upon you for your sins. It humbles us to the core because we know we are helpless.

Is it a teaching that accords with godliness?

In other words if your sin is being exposed through the message, if repentance and faith is being preached in the name of Jesus then it should lead you to greater reverence and love for God. There is always an urge for holiness that comes from true biblical preaching.

I remember once going to a Christian concert. There was wonderful excitement and joy as people worshipped God. In the middle of the worship set, the leader asked us all to be seated and asked us to think about our need for help, healing etc. He then asked us all to respond with a loud shout and call out to God which was then confirmed as assurance of salvation by the worship leader. There was no call for repentance and need to trust in Christ as Savior. Not only did it give the wrong picture of salvation but it also didn’t encourage the believers to grow in holiness. All they got was an emotional experience!

4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

Now it goes into a description of the fruit of the false teacher: you will get to see it in his lifestyle, the way he conducts himself.
• You’ll see him be arrogantly prideful about matters that he doesn’t have accurate or full information of.
• He’ll have an unhealthy appetite to stir up controversial topics.
• You’ll find him frequently argue and debate about empty, unimportant and trifling matters.
• Those discussions and teachings always result in jealousy, quarrels, damaging each others reputation, suspicion and purposely behaving in a way that’s unreasonable and unacceptable.

Then he goes deeper into the root of the problem:

It’s caused due to a depraved mind (mind that is rotting and being corrupted by desire) and deprived of truth (lack of truth – he didn’t want to hold onto to truth). What is the desire? Imagining that godliness is a means of gain. The issue starts there! Because at the deepest level of his heart his desire is to please himself, that’s why his teaching reflects what he desires and not what God desires, and he arrogantly justifies his position with his pride. It’s hard for me to look at this passage and think that prosperity preachers have good intention especially when they arrogantly boast about it. However, if you have friends or family who are in a prosperity church please don’t write them off. Continue to pursue them lovingly and Scripturally showing them what the truth is. Show them how God desires that at the deepest level of their hearts He wants to see Christ and not themselves or money. But know that this is a very enticing theology and many have been hooked onto it.

2. Identifying Godliness (v6-8)

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and[c] we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

This great gain is contrasted with the wrongful gain in the previous verse. Contentment is a conversation the urban church needs to have today. I’ve actually heard less sermons on contentment. In fact I may have heard more talks or lessons in my moral science class. Isn’t that strange? I think it’s because all of us struggle with finding contentment. Interestingly this verse says that godliness is complemented by contentment. It goes side by side. I believe there are few important things we need to learn about contentment from this passage:

a) We need to understand that our earthly lives are finite. There is a start to it and an end. It’s short-lived too. James 4:14 says our lives are like mist that appears for a little time and vanishes.
b) We weren’t created for money or possessions. That’s why we come into the world with empty hands and we leave the world with empty hands.
c) We need to understand the difference between our needs and our wants. Often our hearts get it all mixed up. Our needs are those things that are essential to us existing. Our wants are the add-ons that we often turn into our needs and then later turn into idols.
d) True contentment is found in God only. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb 13:5) We’ve usually only heard the later part which says “I will never leave nor forsake you”, however, we often miss the part before that which says “keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have”. What does that have to do with the promise in the next verse? I think what it means is: our hearts long for satisfaction and security which we often mistakenly look for in money. However, we weren’t created for money but we were created to find that security and satisfaction in the promise that God will be with us forever and never abandon us. As little children do you remember going to your parents and telling them about your fears and things that would trouble you. At those moments you didn’t want to hear the best and most sorted plan to deal with your issues but what calmed you and gave you so much of rest was when your parents put their arms around you and told you that they would be there with you. Now there was nothing more to be afraid of. Isn’t it weird how God tells us that in an even more serious way…by sealing these promises with his blood, but we still don’t believe?

3. Identifying the Desire to be rich (v9-10)

9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Another important lesson for the church today is identifying the desires of your heart. We live in a culture and generation where the one who chases after money, gets it and lives a lavish lifestyle is praised! We love listening and talking about rags to riches stories. Materialism is all around us or rather within our hearts…sometimes we get so desperate that we’ll do anything to be able to latch onto material things. These are verses that should give us a sober warning. The love of money is seriously dangerous. Just to clarify, you don’t need to be rich to have the love of money. It’s the desire of your heart. Here are few things we can understand from these verses:

1) By having a love for money we open ourselves to various temptations. The love for money is a huge breeding ground for sin and the attacks of Satan. Because you are constantly thinking of how you need more money to give you a life you always wanted or to buy you things that you always desired. You become open to compromising your faith to get what you want. This leads to destruction.
2) It is a root of all kinds of evil. We probably don’t expect this to be a root of evil. We may expect adultery or sexual immorality to be the root. However, this verse should really give a strong warning that “all kinds of evil” spring up from this desire. No wonder one of the qualifications of an elder and deacon is “should not be a lover of money”.
3) Through this desire, people have wandered away from the faith! I think this has to be the saddest consequence of harbouring the love of money. The worst thing that can happen to a person is not lose a job, lose money or anything else but is to go away from our loving Saviour. It’s like in the Garden of Eden where the saddest moment was when Adam and Eve hid from the presence of God. Moving away from our Creator and Sustainer – you won’t be living without Him! You wouldn’t have been born at all without Him. Not just that but he loved us so much that while we were still sinners, he died a painful death on a cross. He died to redeem us from the curse of being separated from God. He died so that we can be with Him forever. Why would you want to wander away from such a loving Saviour?

Ask yourself these questions to know if you are a lover of money?

Is money controlling your life? Is the presence or absence of money changing you and the way you behave with others?

Would you do anything you can do to get more money? Would you compromise your faith to get more money?

Is money always on your mind?

Maybe the love of money doesn’t quite apply to your current situation. Could it be possible that like the false teachers in Ephesus that in some way you are looking at godliness as a means to some gain? Money, popularity, fame, self righteousness, acceptance etc. Would you repent of that desire and turn to Christ to help and strengthen you? Or you’ve recognized how you’ve been discontent with life and what you have…would you repent and trust on the promise that Christ would never leave you nor forsake you?

As you all know that we are doing an expository preaching through the book of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, the name of the series is “God Alive Church”

Why “God Alive Church”?

The name “God Alive Church” is because these books educate and express God’s heart of what an ideal church should look like, a church that is Alive and nor dead, a church that is fulfilling the purpose of its existence, a Church that is living out an exemplary life in every way, setting an example to the world around by her actions and words and lifestyle.

A church that is truly in love with her to-be Groom, her lover, her saviour – Jesus Christ, who left his heavenly glory and stooped down to express his love by saving us from the clutches of our sin, arrogance & rebellion, paid the penalty of our sin by dying on the cross and promising us eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

The Church of Christ is meant to be much more than what we have thought of, heard of, imagined of. And I believe these letters give us the right perspective, an understanding and glimpses of Jesus’s heart from his bride.

And imagine, the church that Jesus loves, the church we are talking about is US, bunch of people who are still unsorted in life, people who still struggle with our indwelling sins, people who are still immature in so many ways, people who still have doubts in our head, people who’re yet to understand and acquire the full knowledge of God’s love in so many ways.

And dealing with people especially sinful people like us is the most difficult task. And I believe these letters written by Paul to the church of Ephesus lays down a list of practical and solid foundations of what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ especially in our actions, our words, our conduct, our behaviour, our lifestyle, the way we deal with false and corrupt teachers, the way we care for the poor and needy, the way we treat the elders God has placed over us.

It is amazing to see how Jesus cares about every single detail of our lives as he continues to refine and purify our hearts, sanctify us in every possible way to present us as a holy and spotless bride before God the Father.

The reason I’m emphasizing on this is because in times of struggle and despair it is so easy for us to entertain thoughts like God doesn’t care, he doesn’t love, he’s absent from my lives. In the light of what we’re learning from these letters I want to encourage you to see how much God cares about every single detail of your life. I want you to see how concerned he is for you, how committed he is to help us see him clearly and to live for him and for his glory.

Often times we look for answers in the wrong place. But God, in so many ways have already spoken and expressed himself in the scriptures that all we have to do is to dive into this precious book, learn the truths about God, his purpose for our lives and the glorious life he has promised for us in heaven.

Today’s passage which is 1 Timothy 6:1-2 is one of those verses that show us how deep God is involved in our everyday life.

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As you see here Paul is talking very specifically to a certain group of people and they are the ones who are under the yoke as bondservants.

Who are these bondservants that Paul is talking to?

A bondservant in bible times were slaves – “the ones who were prepared to obey to, and entirely at the disposal of their masters”. During the time of Jesus and the first-century church, it is said that as much as one third of the Roman population were slaves.

Historical records reveal that it was not unusual for Jews to own slaves during the New Testament period. Because slavery was a familiar part of the culture, Jesus sometimes referred to slaves and owners in His parables (e.g., Matthew 25:14-30 and Luke 12:41-48).

Since we’re talking about slavery, as a side note I was surprised to read an article on The wall street journal website posted last year that states India as one of the top countries with the most number of slaves, around 18 million of them in many forms, from domestic to sexual to bonded and child labor. Something we all need to pray about and take action as the Lord leads.

But I want to point you to another kind of subtle slavery in which we live, the one that we often don’t seem to notice and are barely concerned about, it’s called wage slavery.

Wikipedia defines Wage slavery as

“Wage slavery is usually used to refer to a situation where a person’s livelihood depends on wages or a salary, especially when the dependence is total and immediate.”

At thing point I am not going to comment whether it is good or bad, I do have my opinion on it but I will save it for another day and time. All I want to point here is that if we have to contextualize the people to whom Paul is addressing as bondservants in verse 1 then it applies to all of us who work in the corporate world. If bondservant hood was the culture in Jesus’s time then “Wage Slavery” is the culture of the present age.

What Paul goes on to say in the next verses is “regard your masters (which in our bosses and managers) as worthy of all honour.

Now, that may sound pretty scary to some of you’ll. But this is the word of the Lord says. And I especially like the reasoning Paul gives on why we need conduct in this manner with our bosses and managers.

He says “so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled”. The Amplified version of the bible puts it this way “so that the name of God and the teaching [about Him] will not be spoken against.”

In Ephesians 6:5-8 Paul gives another perspective on how salves need to serve their masters.
He says “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.”

What Paul is essentially saying is that the way in which we conduct ourselves towards our earthly masters (our employers) defines whether or not we are living for the glorify of God’s name and whether or not we are being a true witness of Jesus Christ and the Gospel.

In the light of Paul’s comments the question we need to ask is how are some ways in which we dishonour earthly boss’s and manager that makes them look down on us or speak against the God we worship and make our testimony ineffective at workplace.

So, I want to share 5 such areas where we fail in our workplace which leads our hearts to stop giving our best and makes us look down on our earthly masters, eventually failing to glorifying God and make the most of Jesus in our lives.

1. When we fail to see our work as a gift from God & our workplace as an opportunity to serve

Many Christians hold a decidedly unbiblical view of work. Some view it as a curse, or at least as part of the curse of living in a fallen world. Others make a false distinction between what they perceive as the sacred—serving God—and the secular—everything else. And others make it into an idol, expecting it to provide them with their identity and purpose in life as well as being a source of joy and fulfilment that only God can provide.

Here’s an interesting verse from Ecclesiastes 5:18-19 that gives a good perspective on how we should view our toiling under the sun.

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.

Beloved, our jobs are a gift from God that enables us to provide for our families and to enjoy life. When I think of hundreds and thousands of people who struggle to find a decent job to give a good life to their family it makes me happy to know that God has always blessed me with the right job at the right time.

Think about it – It was because of a decent job at the beginning of my career that enabled me to get married and think of having a family. It was because of a decent job that paid me enough I am able to bring my children and provide for them. I can think of much better and talented people who could have done my job better than me but God chose to bless me with it.

Work allows us to exercise the gifts and abilities God gives each person, whether paid or unpaid. God expects adults to provide for themselves and for the family. Scripture says, “If one will not work, neither let him eat!”.

1 Timothy 5:8 – But if someone does not provide for his own, especially his own family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Ephesians 6:8 says “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.”

This verse helps us to see and consider our jobs as an opportunity to serve the Lord and his people.
Beloved, if you’ve never seen it this way before I want to encourage your hearts to see your jobs as a gift from God and as an opportunity to serve.

You see, by doing so you will guard your heart from giving in to bitterness and anguish that often turns our hearts against our earthly masters.

The second reason we fail to glorify God in our workplace is ..

2. When we fail to empathize with the fallen state of our earthly bosses

Our human tendency is always to takes thing personally when we don’t get the appreciation that we think we deserve from our bosses. I hear people always complain that their bosses don’t appreciate their work, is such nasty guy, arrogant and selfish.

But here’s the thing we need to know about our earthly bosses and ourselves.

“The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? – Jeremiah 17:9

“Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” – Ephesians 2:3

The verse remind us of the fallen state of mankind on how deceitful and desperately sick people are because of their sins, and we can empathize with them because we too were once slaves to sins indulging in the desires of the flesh and of the mind.

I remember working for this company where we had this senior guy who took a team review meet at the end of every week where each one of us were asked to present the status of our work. At the beginning I always went back from these meeting discouraged because he would always criticize our work and never appreciated the ideas we would present before him, and the funny thing was instead he would take our ideas and present it back to us in another meeting as if it was his idea.

In my early days I tried my best to be better every time I met him until one day I decided to see him the way he is wired because of his fallen state and began to empathize with him and pray for him and never took his nasty comments seriously. You see, It helped me approach the situation in a different way and God showed his favour. When I left the organization he appreciated me for my talents and sent me with his blessings.

Beloved, there are people in this world who are so deep down in their sin that no matter how hard you wish they’d change they will never change unless we present our Saviour Jesus who changed our lives. And we can only do that if our lifestyle, attitude and hard work glorifies God and presents the teaching of Jesus as authentic and truly life changing.

The third reason we fail to glorify God in our workplace is ..

3. When we fail to respond in love and forgiveness

When things don’t go our way, when our boss start acting too bossy, when the culture at work become dominating and frustrating – Our natural response is always to become angry, throw tantrums and nurture hatred in our hearts. Instead the scripture encourages us to consider forgiving our masters and respond in love.

Mark 11:25 – And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

1 Cor 13:4-7 – Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

The scripture teaches us to be patient and kind, not to be arrogant and rude. It encourages us to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things until God opens another door.

Have you heard of people who throw their jobs away, write hate mails to their bosses because they are angry and full of hatred? If you’ve not heard of such a story then I can tell you one.

Unfortunately and shamefully I have to admit that I once did that in one of my early days where I was so angry with my boss because of his arrogant behaviour that I ran away without even informing him and even sent a hate mail. I so regret my behaviour and wish someone had preached this sermon to me.

But instead of reacting in our anger if can respond to that situation in love and show a forgiving heart, by doing so we will protect our hearts from sinning against our bosses and will end up glorifying our

God and his teachings even more.

The fourth reason we fail to glorify God in our workplace is ..

4. When we fail to diligently & faithfully complete the tasks assigned to us

Proverbs 10:4 – Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.

Proverbs 12:24 – The hand of the diligent will rule, But the slack hand will be put to forced labor.

Please note that it not always the fault of our bosses and managers that puts us in a situation that’s frustrating and unproductive. Most often it is also our faults when we fail to diligently and faithfully complete the tasks assigned to us.

It could be because of our pride that we sometimes don’t work diligently and faithfully, or just shear laziness that prevents us from giving our best. And If that is true about us than we need to repent of our sins and ask God for forgiveness.

Proverbs 16:18 says “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”

Proverbs 13:4 – “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, But the soul of the diligent is made fat.”

Blaming our employer for the absence of growth in our lives because of our lazy and proud attitude is an absolute foolishness. It even projects us as a bad example to the unbelieving world bringing shame to our Christian family name. It allows people to criticize our faith and belief in Jesus and his teachings.

The fifth reason we fail to glorify God in our workplace is ..

5. When we fail to rely on God as our provider

One other common complaint we often hear from working professionals is their dissatisfaction with their monthly paycheck which I believe often leads our hearts to not giving our best at work and look down on our employer.

In a situation like this would you consider thinking of God as the one who provides your monthly income and not your employer?

1 Chronicles 29:12. “Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.”

Even though it is our employer who signs out monthly paycheck I want to remember that ultimately it is God who is our provider. We need to settle down in our heart that what God has provisioned for you at this season of our life is the best.

In Proverbs 30:8-9 the author writes
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9 lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.

You see, God knows the right balance for his children. He won’t give us too much that will lead our hearts astray and wont give us too less that will make us steal and profane his name.

The right balance to enjoying prosperity is in conjunction with the prosperity of our soul. In 3 John 1:2

John makes a prayer and says “Beloved, I pray that in every way you may prosper and enjoy good health, as your soul also prospers.”

And therefore instead of worrying too much about our pay check I suggest that we should be more concerned about protecting our soul from getting corrupted and believe that as your soul prospers in God you may also prosper all other godly things.

And finally in 1 Timothy 6:2 Paul goes on to say

Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.

First of all, It is blessing if you get to serve under an employer who is a believer. You need to be thankful to God. Paul’s encouragement to these people is that they must serve their masters even better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.

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As a church we’ve been going through a series titled “God Alive Church” reading through the pastoral epistles of 1 & 2nd Timothy and Titus. It’s been a joy for me personally to read and discover God’s plan for the church and how He intends that the life of the church be shaped by the gospel. The gospel changes the way we relate with each other – the family of God. The gospel allows us to live out our God given roles within the church and the home. The gospel produces God glorifying lifestyle. A godly life is the product of the gospel! Last week we got into some more practical applications of the gospel life.

As we read through the first 16 verses of 1 Timothy 5, we learnt about the 5 signs of a healthy church life:
a) Being considerate and respectful of one another
b) Giving generously
c) Testing and validating believers
d) Seeking sexual purity
e) Avoiding slanderous talk.

This week we look at v17 through 25, Paul gives instructions to Timothy on how to care for the elders in the church. We probably are well versed with the care that needs to be given to the congregation but what kind of care would need to be given to the elders? If this were an organization, probably this question about caring for your leaders wouldn’t come up. We know however that the church is the family of God. In a family everyone takes care and responsibility of each other. So what does it look like?

17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” 19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. 21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. 22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. 23 (No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.) 24 The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. 25 So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.

Let me put it out there that it feels a little strange to preach on this topic being an elder myself. I wouldn’t want to lay it down as though these were my own thoughts. These are the words from Scripture – and so let’s remind ourselves that this carries the authority from God.

Coming back to this passage, I believe there are three ways by which we can care for our elders:
1. By supporting them (v17-18)
2. By being prudent in handling accusations against them (v19-21)
3. By being patient in selecting them. (v22-25)

1. By supporting them (v17-18)

17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”

The first verse starts by mentioning let the elders who rule well as a prerequisite for considering those worthy of double honor.
What does that mean? For this we’ll turn 1 Peter 5 which I think is a great measuring stick for an elder to assess himself:

2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,[a] not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;[b] not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Elders are called to be shepherds of the flock. The imagery is of a shepherd tenderly and gently taking care of his sheep. How do they shepherd and oversee the flock of God?
a) By doing it willingly and not under compulsion
b) By doing it eagerly without desiring some shameful gain
c) Not abusing the flock but rather being examples to them.

And it says when the Chief Shepherd appears, elders that have “ruled well” will receive the unfading crown of glory. And that surpasses any other incentive or kickback in this lifetime – receiving honor from God!

Another thing we see here is “double honor”. What does that mean? I think it means a couple of things. Firstly, it means respecting and submitting to their leadership. And this is not an easy thing to do in our natural self. Our natural self runs away from submitting to any kind of authority. Be it parents, or spouse, or teachers, or boss, or government or God. In our sin, we are prewired to rebel against all authorities. But that changes when we come to know and believe in Jesus. We realize that though Jesus is God the Son, He submits to the Father and is fully obedient to Him. In God’s wisdom He created authorities in our lives to help us understand the intimate relationship between the members of the Trinity. So even in your church setting, when you submit to the leadership of your elders and other people who might be discipling you, know that you are becoming more like Christ in that process.

Secondly, I think honor also refers to financial support. How can we say that? Because of v18 which quotes two verses. The first verse says “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” which is an OT reference. Now I don’t any of us is familiar with farming analogies so this will need some explaining. What this means is when the ox is plowing the field, it deserves to partake in some of his own labor. The command is to not muzzle the ox when he is trying to eat the grain. Apparently in OT times other nations would actually muzzle the ox and not allow him to eat. The Israelites had to stand out in terms of its fairness and compassion towards animals. Similarly, Paul uses this verse to state how elders who “labor in the word” need to be treated fairly by receiving financial support for their ministry. He explains this in a little more detail in 1 Cor 9:9-14:

9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10 Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?

Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 13 Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

Then the next quote that Paul uses in 1 Timothy 5:18 is “The laborer deserves his wages.”

This is a command from Jesus when Jesus sends out the Twelve in Matthew 10 and 72 disciples in Luke 10.

“And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.” Luke 10:7

This kind of financial support is given to the elder so that it can free him up to focus on the work that God has appointed him to do for the church.

Also we notice in v17 is that it mentions “those who labor in preaching and teaching”. When you think about labor what pictures come to your mind? It’s wearisome, tiring hard work to be able to communicate God’s truth accurately!

It’s like a person holding precious jewels (Word of God) and sharing it with his friends with utmost care. That’s why this passage doesn’t agree with those preachers that expect a spontaneous revelation from God to preach God’s Word. Lack of preparation is justified by saying that they are led by the Spirit. That’s not how it is. There is labor that goes into preaching and teaching the Word of God. Why? Because it takes work to remove the pre-conceived notions and erroneous thoughts we may have about God and our own hearts. The hard work is not in creating a sermon. It’s easy to manufacture a man made message. The hard part is to remove the baggage to allow God to speak clearly and powerfully through Scripture. The preparation time is bathed in prayer asking God to help us apply this to the congregation.

An illustration would be of a mother that takes time to think and prepare a meal for her kids that would nourish them and also make it enjoyable for them. Just making a tasty meal is not enough; she makes something that’s healthy for them. After 3-4 hours when the meal is prepared the kids enjoy the meal.

This labor is not just in words but also in deeds. There is labor in discipling people with a lifestyle that’s consistent to the message.

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. (Heb 13:7)

We are all called to be disciple-makers. (Matthew 28:19-20) Disciple-making happens not just verbally but as you show people how to love, obey and trust Christ. That’s why it becomes hard to teach someone forgiveness when you yourself harbour unforgiveness in your heart.

Having said that, let me also say that elders don’t perfectly obey their sermons. That’s why we need to preach the same message to ourselves. Elders are also sinners saved by grace. We are need of Christ’s grace each day as much as anyone else. So the question is what should the church imitate and absorb from the elders? Their pursuit of Christ.
1) Are they pursuing Christ through prayer and the Word? If yes, copy that
2) Are they frequently repenting of the idols in their lives? If yes, copy that
3) Are they humbling themselves before the gospel every day? If yes, copy that.

So one of the first ways by which we can care for our elders is by supporting them: showing them honor, submitting to their leadership, financial support and imitating their pursuit of Christ.

2. By being prudent in handling accusations against them. (v19-21)

19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. 21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality.

The lives of the elders are always on scrutiny because they lead the church. Therefore there are always going to people who would disagree with decisions they take or have some accusations against them. What biblically we see here is that the God honouring way of handling accusations against elders is by admitting a charge only when evidence is provided by two or three witnesses.

This is not absolving them nor overlooking the accusations made against them but being fair to the God called and appointed elders of the church.

V20 talks about the case where an elder is proven guilty of a disqualifying sin and continues to persist in it. In this case, the elder who is persisting in rebellion will need to be publicly rebuked and corrected. This is important because it highlights how seriously the church views sin matters. A public correction reassures the congregation that a disqualifying sin by an elder will not be covered up. As we know elders are pace-setters. Therefore, even in sin matters if they aren’t corrected, it will begin to affect the church negatively.

We know of a lot of churches which have been broken because disqualifying sins of elders were covered up or tolerated. Just imagine the brokenness among believers when they find out that their pastor is caught in adultery or homosexuality. Furthermore, they are even more discouraged when they see these things being covered up or tolerated. One of the other disqualifying sins according to 1 Timothy 3 is also “he shouldn’t be a lover of money”. Yet there are many churches in the world where the pastor is an outright lover of money and his lifestyle is being applauded. It’s damaging to church!

After telling this to Timothy, Paul presents a picture of a heavenly court with God the Father, Jesus and other angels looking on. In front of this heavenly court Paul testifies and commands

Timothy to be faithful in rebuking any elder publicly who has persisted in disqualifying sin. When it comes to this, there is no room for being biased or partial.

I really think a lot of the churches in world would look very different if disqualified leaders would be publicly rebuked as laid down in this passage. How much more purer and devoted would the church be as a result of this? Also, I think the church would look a lot more different if the church was more prudent in admitting charges against the elder. This is the second way how you can care for an elder.

3. By being patient in selecting them. (v22-25)

22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. 23 (No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.) 24 The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. 25 So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.

Laying on of hands is a biblical symbol of appointing ministers to service either elders or deacons. What Paul was telling Timothy is that he shouldn’t be quick in appointing elders. Not before he assesses their theology, lifestyle, maturity and witness. And these things take time. That’s why v24 says “the sins of others appear later”. This is contrary to what we see in the world. For eg: if you’ve gone to seminary and got a degree – people say “you are fit to be an elder automatically”! Or if you’re involved in church activities, “well you should try ministry”. In fact v22 says that if you appoint someone hastily to be an elder, you also share in the responsibility of the elder’s future sin. That’s what it means when it says “nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure”. Time and time again we see examples of people being pushed too early to lead a church without having their lives analysed. It wrecks havoc.

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out. (Proverbs 10:9)

Your sin will find you.

That’s why I added this point of being patient in selecting elders because the best way you can also love your brother who has potential and is passionate about Jesus is to also wait until he matures in his speech and lifestyle before he is given that role. In Acts 19:10, it is reported that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks! That is astounding! Now just imagine the requirement for elders in each of those churches. Must’ve been huge. More than anyone else they would’ve wanted to have elders in place merely to organize themselves. Yet Paul says “do not be hasty in the laying on of hands”. How does that speak to our culture where we want everything to happen instantly? Yes, we should disciple people…give them opportunities to serve the church…train them to be more effective in evangelism but be slow when it comes to appointing them as deacons or elders. “Let them be tested first…let them not be a recent convert”…those are the instructions for deacons and elders.

The encouragement is in v25 where it says that “So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.”

The good works (lifestyle) of people will also be evident, so if you are living life in your community, your community will be in the best place to identify you as someone who can be qualified as an elder.

This passage gives us a good guideline on how can we care for our elders : by supporting them, being prudent in handling accusations and being patient in selecting them. What are some places where you feel God has been speaking to you today? Is it something God wants to change in your beliefs? In your attitudes? In your actions?

Last Sunday we learned how to discern whether we are listening to right biblical teaching by applying the 4 principles i.e right teaching, right living, right community & right scrutiny.

Right biblical teaching will always lead our hearts to sound teaching of the scripture pointing our hearts to Christ and the Gospel, help us live godly lives, join us with godly community and convict our hearts of sin.

In our passage today which is 1 Timothy 5:1-16 I believe Paul is getting into the practical aspects of church life. After addressing false doctrine and rebuking false teachers, pruning the church from anything or anyone that was taking the focus away from Christ and the Gospel. Paul goes on to speak specific things about church life that needed attention.

In these passages Paul lays down a number of instructions and I want all of us to keep in mind that since the context of the church life in Ephesus is quite different to ours we wont be able to literally take the instructions as if it relates to us today. Like for example, Paul giving specific and elaborate instruction regarding widows. The reason being there were many widows in the community at that time and the church had taken responsibility to care for them.

And how come there were so many widows in the church? Well, historians say there may well have been two classes of women here. There were certainly widows who had become widows in the normal way by the death of their husbands. But it was not uncommon in the pagan world, in certain places, for a man to have more than one wife. When a man became a Christian, he could not go on being a polygamist, and therefore had to choose which wife he was going to live with. That meant that some wives had to be sent away and they were clearly in a very unfortunate position. It may be that such women as these were also reckoned as widows and given the support of the Church.

So, instead of taking each of those instruction literally we will try to understand God’s heart behind these instructions and try and apply them in our context.

These instructions were given as practical applications to consider in a normal and a healthy church life.

And there are five such application that I can see in these passages.

1. Being considerate & respectful of one another

The first sign of a healthy church is where people are considerate & respectful of each other.

In verse 1 & 2 Paul writes “Do not rebuke an older man harshly but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.”

Even though this instruction may specially apply to Timothy and others leaders where Paul is saying do not rebuke an older man harshly, while rebuking is clearly an elders role. But we see God heart wherein he wants them to be considerate of the old age and deal with an old man as they would with their own father.

In the later verses Paul goes on to say “Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity”

In a generation where all these respectable attributes are fading away even from Christian families and churches, God’s heart still remains the same and calls every child to continue to show love and respect to strangers just as they would do to their own family members.

A few months back I happen to see a video from one of my previous churches, its the church where I was mentored and discipled by an elderly pastor, the church where I met Jane and served God as a young man.

It was a clip where the some leaders and members of the church broke out in a fight with the Pastor concerning some church issues. It was not the issue regarding which they were having a fight that disturbed but the manner in which they were talking and shouting at each other. In the chaos there was this young girl in her twenties got up from the crowd and snatch the microphone from the pastor hand to stop him from speaking.

A clear act of disrespect to the elders and other members of the church and it is happening in our generation, in our churches today.

Philippians 2:3-4
“Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Titus 3:2
To speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

Brothers & Sisters, being considerate and respectful of one another is a sign of a healthy and flourishing church. One that God desires from his children.

2. Giving generously

The second sign of a healthy church life is where people give generously.

Verse 3-8 Paul writes
“Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. Give the people these instructions, so that no one may be open to blame. Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

[16] If any woman who is a believer has widows in her care, she should continue to help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need.

Even though Paul in talking about giving in context to the situation with widows his general observation is that people within the church are giving importance to their religious practices but completely ignore to care for their families. He goes on to say in the last verse that “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

If we look at the early church we will notice that giving was an essential part of church life.

Acts 4:32-35 says
“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.”

Matthew 12:41-44 records an event where “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Our society values how much a person has; God values how much a person gives. When Jesus watched the widow, He praised her who cast in just two mites—a fraction of a penny—because it represented such a sacrifice. Though money itself is not evil, loving money leads to all kinds of evil.

The best protection we have against the sorrows that come from loving money is to cultivate generous hearts. And therefore we need to look for opportunities to use the resources God has given to us (even if they do not seem to be great) for the benefit of others. Rather than waiting until you have enough to give, we need to be generous and give as the Lord leads.

Giving generously is the sign of a healthy and flourishing church.

3. Testing and validating spirits

The third sign of a healthy church is to be able to discern, test and validate true and devoted believers from the flock.

Verse 9-10
9 No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, 10 and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the Lord’s people, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.

Often churches are assumed to be a place where human spirits are celebrated regardless of the heart motives of people. Where correcting and being bias is looked down on.
But unlike what people assume the church should look like, the scripture clearly demands church authorities to discern, test and validate true and devoted believers, the people under our care and supervision.

Paul is telling Timothy not to include widows who are under sixty, has been unfaithful to her husband, known for bad deeds, not bringing up their children well, not showing hospitality, not washing the feet of the Lord’s people and not helping others in times of trouble.

Can you imagine Timothy and other leaders standing at the door and telling some of widows to go back home for the reasons mentioned above? Would you be part of a church where you see this happening in front of your eyes? What will be your reaction? Will you look down on the church or will you honor Gods word and his governance displayed through the elders of the church.

Beloved, discerning, testing and validating true and devoted believers from the flock is the sign of a healthy church life.

4. Seeking sexual purity

The fourth sign of a healthy church life as described in the passage is seeking sexual purity above everything else.

Verse 11-15
11 As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. 12 Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge.

14 So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes

God’s heart for the church is to seek sexual purity above everything else. Please note Paul is asking Timothy not to consider younger widows on such list because there is a possibility that their sensual desires cam overcome their dedication to Christ.

It is a proactive step Paul is asking Timothy to take just in case an event like that may occur.

You see, As long as we are in our flesh we are and will always be prone to fall for our sensual desires. And that is why it is important to constantly guard our hearts and avoid any such circumstances to damage our devotion to Christ.

It happens when we daily remind ourselves the Gospel. Remembering what Jesus did for us on the cross of cavalry, that he died on our place for our sins, broke the bond of slavery to sin and made our bodies slaves to righteousness.

Unlike what most people think when they fall in to sin that the power of sin is greater than their willpower. But it is the lack devotion to Christ and his finished work on the cross that often leads our hearts astray.

Beloved, sexual purity within the body of Christ is a serious matter for Jesus.

1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;

Hebrews 13:4
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

In the case of young widows Paul says I rather prefer that these widows would get married, have children & manage their homes.

Seeking for sexual purity within us and among the church members is a sign of a healthy church.

5. Avoid Slandering. Talking nonsense and say things they ought not to.

The fifth and the final sign of a healthy church is that it is careful not to slander, get into senseless discussions and avoid say things to each other that are not true.

13 Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to.

14 So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. 15 Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.

Another reason why Paul is saying not to include young widows in the list is also because of their habit of being idle and becoming idlers, busybodies who talk nonsense and say things they ought not to. And by doing so Paul says some have even turned away to follow Satan.

Here Paul is out rightly against young widows making pretty judgmental statement against those who slander, give themselves to idleness and speak nonsense in the church.

I think the churches today have become quite tolerant of these behaviors in the church which is leading the hearts of people especially new believers away from the Lord. This passage suggest that we need to be quite intolerant to these behavioral patterns so that the church sets itself as an example to the world outside.

Matthew 12:36
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

Psalm 101:5
Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure.

Luke 6:45
The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Avoiding slander, withdrawing ourselves from either speaking or listening to senseless talks is s sign of a healthy church.